Conclusion

After a quick reminder of this project's main objectives and their outcomes, this chapter considers the impact of a cross-disciplinary approach on education, arguing that it is not only a fruitful pedagogical method, but also a deeply enriching path for personal development, in the same way that mentoring and international journeys are. We also consider what we have learned about the way in which science, philosophy, and narratives are intricately connected. We make recommendations for further research, especially on the role of narratives and philosophy in other cross-disciplinary fields, such as culture, psychotherapy, and the challenges currently posed by technology. We encourage further exploration of the ways in which narratives may be abused to advance particular interests in various fields of public life. We end with a reminder of the prolific role of both stories and practical philosophy in the process of formative education (or personal development in general). Here, mentors and journeys have a key role, equivalent to that of internships in formal education.

The Story and the Dilemma

This section tells the story of my mother's stroke and what I have learnt from it about mind, body, consciousness, and the self, arguably the most cross-disciplinary topic of all. What gives us our sense of personal identity – our body? Our mind? Their union? And what if one of them is diminished – say, as a result of an accident; what then, do we stop being ourselves? This opening chapter sets the scene for the debate that follows, on this most fascinating mystery of all – our own self and consciousness. We question the still dominant dualist approach of the mind, seeking a more holistic view of the self; to this end, we believe that adding relevant experiential aspects will help complement the theory. Thus, an interdisciplinary, trans-theoretical account is needed in this endeavour. In this chapter, we introduce the dilemma and draw the main lines of argumentation related to it. In Chapter 2, we discuss the first experiential (in other words, the clinical) aspects of the mind, and neuroscientists' view of it, followed – in Chapter 3, by social aspects and psychologists' contributions to the subject. Chapter 4 will add more idiosyncratic aspects to the debate, such as the spiritual profile of a person, more often discussed in philosophy, religion, and art.

The Mother

This chapter turns to philosophers and artists, seeking their views on the dilemma of consciousness and the self, as well as the related mind/body problem. Does consciousness – and personal experience – arise from the neurological functions of the brain (and if so, how), or is it but a shard of the flow of universal consciousness – and if so, is the mind only a channel of energy and should we forget about our cognitive functions, or train to use them in a different way? What does it mean to have a strong sense of personal identity – where does the ‘true self' lie? Having learnt from neuroscientists and most psychologists that our self seems to exceed the scope and depth of both body and mind, we hope that philosophy and art might guide us towards this ‘other' realm where our sense of identity emerges from.

Two Other Stories

This chapter looks at two other cases of complex real-life situations, which we believe lend themselves well to cross-disciplinary debate. One is a legal case, following the 1987 capsize of Herald of Free Enterprise, a roll-on ferry on its way from Belgium to the UK, which led to 193 deaths; the collapse of the legal proceedings against both company and individual directors contributed to the process of legal reform, which culminated with the introduction of a new law of corporate manslaughter in 2007. We analyse the case from a legal, ethical, philosophical, and public policy perspective, thereby maintaining a Gadamerian focus on practice and public impact. The other case is that of a Balinese artist who, following a spiritual experience, has entirely changed not only his artistic style, but also his way of life. We compare and contrast this with the artistic practice of monks in the Orthodox Christian tradition, where art is yet another form of religious manifestation. Both are good illustrations of the neo-pragmatist notion of a philosophical art of living, and both entail an inter-disciplinary approach to fully understand, one that combines aesthetic, religious, socio-economic, and political considerations.

Practicing Philosophy, From Plato to Gadamer

This section explains what kind of philosophy we are referring to when we talk about the role of philosophy in the cross-disciplinary type of debates that interest us here. Namely, it is a practical – rather than theoretical – philosophy; indeed, a practice in itself, rather than an analytical pursuit, which is aimed at achieving practical wisdom, rather than theoretical insights. This entails different kinds of practices – from what we would nowadays call moral and political philosophy, in Plato and Aristotle, through a certain kind of interpretive practice, in Heidegger and Gadamer, to a series of neo-pragmatist ways of living, in Rorty and Shusterman. What these have in common is a philosophical focus on what we can do, in our personal, social, and professional lives, rather than what type of theoretical knowledge we can achieve – and how. The former is a kind of philosophy that is more likely to have an impact on the way we live, than on a particular theory or line of arguments.

The Neighbour

This chapter considers various aspects of the self, from the cognitive ones related to contents of the mind to more relational ones connecting us to the world and others. Concepts such as memory and representation are relevant for both views of the self – focused on the inner states and our relationship with the outside, respectively. We look at what psychologists like Steven Pinker, Howard Rachlin, Oliver Sacks, and Israel Rosenfield have to say about the self in an attempt to test the neuroscientists' views.

The Patient

This chapter addresses the issue of a stroke's impact on consciousness and the self, from a clinical point of view. We look at how the mind is seen by three experts—a neuroscientist, a brain surgeon, and a neuro-philosopher—and find that, instead of solving the mystery of the mind, they in fact add to it. Indeed, they all agree on the lingering mystery of consciousness, underneath and beyond the brain, as well as on the surprising rapport the self seems to establish to the world and its environment – in ways that are not constitutive to the brain itself. This suggests we might need to call on psychologists and sociologists next, to help us solve the conundrum of the self.